Uganda under the gun

Commonwealth summits, like the organisation itself, aren't what they used to be. The decline that followed the end of apartheid has reduced its biennial get-togethers to little more than outings for the Queen and 50-odd leaders who are still loosely bound by the threads of empire and the English language, especially platitudes. But it is credit to the Commonwealth's capacity for re-invention that trade is now a preoccupation, with poorer countries - the majority of the membership - rightly bending the ears of wealthier ones about the need to secure a fair deal in the Doha round. That was the main item on the agenda for this weekend's heads of government meeting in Malta. Now though the old problem of democracy has reared its familiar head - and in a deeply unpleasant way since it involves the arrest of a popular Ugandan opposition leader on charges of treason ahead of an election which the once-admired Yoweri Museveni hopes will extend his 20-year rule.

Tony Blair, seated next to President Museveni at the Valetta talks, should be concerned about Kizza Besigye in the general context of a shared commitment to democracy, good governance and the rule of law, but specifically in the light of the fact that the 2007 summit is due to be held in Kampala. Commonwealth countries reach agreement by consensus and peer pressure, so it is well worth reminding the Ugandan leader (who helped depose Idi Amin), that Pakistan was suspended after General Pervez Musharraf seized power, and that Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe continues to trample on human rights, quit after being suspended. It took time, but Nigeria was also persuaded to clean up its act after the execution of the Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Dr Besigye, recently returned from exile in South Africa, and yesterday hauled before a military tribunal on terrorism and weapons charges, is accused of conspiring with rebels including the notorious Lord's Resistance Army. Supporters insist the case is politically motivated and designed to see off a challenge to Mr Museveni's increasingly autocratic rule. The US and EU, which have protested, agree.

Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth secretary-general, was right to point to the despondency among developing countries about "a low level of ambition" by industrialised countries ahead of the WTO talks. But it is important too to show that this often maligned organisation - still a unique network for governments and peoples - looks at the world on the basis of common values that really mean something.